Judge blocks California law on posting actors’ ages
SAN FRANCISCO — A California law that restricts a popular Hollywood website from posting actors’ ages raises First Amendment concerns and does not appear likely to combat age discrimination in the entertainment industry in any meaningful way, a federal judge said Wednesday.
U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria granted IMDb.com’s request to block AB 1687 while the website’s lawsuit challenging it winds through the courts.
Chhabria said the law prevented IMDb from publishing factual information on its public website, and the state had not shown it was necessary to combat age discrimination in Hollywood.
“It’s not clear how preventing one mere website from publishing age information could meaningfully combat discrimination at all,” the judge said.